A Different Perspective
by flyingmonkies123
Summary: Rated M for language later on probably. A multi chapter Ziley fic talking about the changes in Zane and Riley's lives, enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Okay so after ending my other fic "Change Happens" I really wanted to write a different type of story. I hope you enjoy this! Keep in mind this does not follow any of the Degrassi storylines so please don't get angry at me for not sticking to the show fully, though some things may seem familiar. Please read and review! I hope you enjoy!**

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Zane had awakened to the sharp light coming through his shades in the morning, almost blinding him when he dared to open his eyes, squinting he rolled over and wrapped his arms around the half asleep figure next to him. He laid there for holding the person against his body, Zane closed his eyes and let his mind wander for a second before letting go and rolling slowly out of bed. He walked over to his dresser and searched for a second before pulling out a fresh pair of jeans and a shirt.

"G'mornin" Zane heard from behind, he smiled and turned around before he walked over to his companion and kissed them on the forehead.

"Sleep well?" Zane asked before walking in the direction of the bathroom.

"Yeah, you? Why are you up so early anyway?"

"Ya know, first day of school have to get things off to a good start, it is a new school after all." Zane said laughing a little bit, he did typically get up early, but today he had a promising feeling, he sensed change that was about to take over his life like he had never seen before, a new school year and a new school would give him just the chance to do so.

"Come on Zane, it's just Degrassi, I'm sure it won't be any different than your last school" His companion giggled before they spoke again.

"Okay maybe I'm just a little excited, I mean I did convince my parents to let me transfer over there just for you." Zane said coyly.

"Speaking of my parents..."

"Yup I got it, I don't think they're awake yet but I'll make sure to be quiet when I leave" Anya walked over slowly to Zane, only a sheet wrapped around her gentle body before leaning over and kissing him slowly.

"Take you're shower hun, I'm gonna go home and change but I'll see you at school" Anya said with a sultry smile before walking over to her pile of clothes and placing them on the bed. Zane walked into the bathroom and waited until he heard his bedroom door shut before walking back out and sitting on his bed. He sat down and placed his elbows on his knees, his fingers rubbing into his temples and his smile fading for the first time this morning. The strong sent of coffee slowly faded into his room awakening the young teenager even more, Zane breathed in deeply and mentally prepared himself for the day, knowing that everything would be different. The only reason Zane was going to Degrassi was because Anya wanted to show off her boy toy to everyone, Zane had no idea how he let himself fall into that trap but it happened. He loved Anya he really did, but he was wondering if transferring to a new school was a bad idea. He quickly shook the idea out of his head before walking back into the bathroom and started his shower.

Once out of the shower Zane promptly dressed, pulled his fingers through his hair and quickly made his bed, shaking out a pair of Anya's undergarments along the way.

"This has got to stop" Zane thought to himself before shaking that idea out of his head as well. He gathered the basic first day of school supplies he would need, and put them in his messenger bag before throwing that over his shoulder and walking out of his room. He walked into the kitchen to see his mother reading a newspaper while slowly chewing her toast, a steaming cup of coffee sitting next to her. He looked into the living room where his father was watching some fast paced show where the daily stocks were scrolling on one side and headlines were streaming down at the bottom. Zane sighed before pulling out the carton of orange juice and pouring himself a glass and pulled a chair out next to his mother.

"It was nice seeing Anya this morning, she could use a haircut though" Zane's mother said in her typical snarky fashion. Zane blushed lightly at the thought of his mother bumping into Anya on her walk of shame.

"You ready for your first day?" His mother asked, her eyes barely glancing up from her newspaper, she squinted at one of the pages before adjusting her glasses closer to her face and made an expression which set her wrinkles much deeper into her face, making her age significantly.

"Ehh you know, it's just another day of school" Zane said casually while downing the rest of his orange juice before walking over to the sink and depositing his glass.

"If you want to transfer back, just let us know" His mother said uninterestedly as Zane slowly headed for the door.

"Yup, bye mom" Zane said before closing the door quickly behind him. He jogged down the stairs of the front porch before getting to the sidewalk and heading towards Degrassi. Turning on Degrassi street he saw the large high school surrounded by what appeared to be hundreds of adolescents, all with schedules in front of their noses comparing them with their friends. Degrassi was much bigger than Zane's old high school, a privet school that he had attended since kindergarten, he knew Degrassi would be a big step for him but Zane figured it was time to step outside of his comfort zone. Walking slowly up the stairs he saw groups of girls touching each others hair and complementing each others outfits, he looked out on the lawn and saw a group of boys tossing a football then inside where teachers were standing outside of their classrooms holding coffee cups and carrying on careful conversation. Zane realized that Degrassi may not be that big of a stretch from his old school.

"Hey gorgeous you miss me?" Zane heard from behind him, he turned and say Anya fresh in a new outfit, glowing in front of him. Her smile stretched from ear to ear at the sight of her boyfriend and she even went as far as to let out a quick squeal as Zane walked over and hugged her.

"I can't wait until you meet all my friends!" Anya said excitedly before continuing to add numerous details about her endless list of friends. As Zane walked through his first day of classes everything was a blur to him, every face looked the same and every name sounded similar. He only recognized a couple of names that he had heard Anya use in the past but could not match the face he was introduced to, to the name they were given. At lunch time Anya continued to chatter and inform Zane of everything that had taken place in her day. It was routine for the two, she would talk, and he would pretend to listen, it's not that Zane didn't necessarily want to listen, it's just Anya talked A LOT. A person named Holly J. slid her tray across from Zane and introduced herself to the boy. Anya and Holly J. carried on polite conversation for a while until Holly J. had finished eating, before excusing herself mumbling something about student council responsibilities. Zane looked up as yet another tray slid in front of him, he continued to look down, feeling overwhelmed by the size of the school at that moment.

"Zane? Zane? Are you even listening? Zane this is Riley, my best friend ever!" Anya said this again with a little squeak. Zane continued to look down before taking a deep breath and looking up, barely willing to endure one more introduction today. Zane looked up and found his eyes locking with a pair of deep blue green eyes, the curly haired boy across the table gave Zane a quick wave and a shy smile before looking down again.

"Oh forgive Riley he's a little shy. Anyway Riley this is my super adorable boyfriend Zane, isn't he cute?" Anya said this all at once, Riley blushed a little and nodded in Anya's direction.

"I can ask him that because he's gay" Anya said in a more than obvious whisper. Riley blushed again and Anya continued to chat about ever detail in her life while Zane looked at riley through a small curtain of eyelashes, trying not to make his staring obvious. Something about the older boy intrigued him a little, Zane brushed it off as though it was nothing, he would surely hear more about the boy from Anya later.

"See ya later Riley, I'm gonna hit the bathroom before my next class, I'll catch up with you later babe" Zane said before kissing Anya quickly on the lips and walking out of the cafeteria. Zane was alone when he walked down the hallway to the mens restroom surprised that the Degrassi halls could actually be empty for once, he went into the bathroom before entering the stall and leaning against the side. It was gonna be a long year.

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**AN: Okay so I'm giving a go at a new type of Ziley storyline. I hope you guys enjoy it, this will be a multi fic chapter, I just need to figure out where I want to go with all of this. Please review! **


	2. Chapter 2

The first week of school passed quickly for Zane, it was a constant blur of new faces, names, teachers, friends and classrooms. Everything at Degrassi was incredibly overwhelming for Zane, who typically prided himself on being a simple person. Everyone at Degrassi appeared to be loud and proud of who they were, always trying to get attention whenever entering a room, the size of the school didn't help much when Zane felt himself constantly getting lost throughout the first week, luckily with Anya's and a few random students he was able to find his classes everyday. He settled in for his last class on Friday afternoon, algebra. Zane hated math with a burning passion, especially algebra, he didn't understand why someone had to mix together letters and numbers in order to create some confusing scenario that will never stand up in real life. This was his third algebra class this week, and in Zane's eyes it was three too many.

He looked across the room and saw a curly haired boy sitting as far from him in the room as possible. Zane stared at the back of the boy's head and felt it curious as to why he had such a strong desire to pull on the older boy's hair, as though he were five. Zane laughed quietly to himself while he waited for class to start. Zane brushed his fingers through his own hair and pushed his pencil down roughly at his paper as he focused on solving quadratic equations and factoring trinomials. He exhaled roughly, clearly frustrated at his lack at math, he looked up and noticed everyone working through their problems calmly and surely and everyone appeared to be nearly finished, he sighed once more as he looked down at his worksheet with only a few problems done, knowing it was going to be a long weekend. The finial bell rang signaling freedom for the entire school, Zane in no hurry slowly packed up his bag noting the extreme amount of homework he managed to acquire in only a week.

Zane walked over to his locker and saw Anaya standing next to it, picking at her nails and looking completely uninterested in everything that surrounded her. She smiled brightly as she saw Zane approach, he returned the smile just as big, one that made her heart flutter as he moved closer to her. She stood on her tiptoes and gave the boy a quick kiss before quickly informing them of all of their plans for the weekend, giving Zane almost no room to add in the amount of homework he had to do this weekend, and how he really didn't feel like hanging out all that much. Anya blew off Zane's complaints and continued chatting, Zane sighed and pulled out a couple more notebooks out of his locker before turning and walking towards the exit with Anya.

"Whats wrong?" Anya said suddenly look up at Zane, taking a break from her constant talking.

"Oh nothing really, I'm just gonna have a lot of homework this weekend and algebra is slowly kicking my ass." Zane said slowly testing to see if Anya would pick up on the hint that he would rather have some alone time this weekend.

"Oh Riley is totally awesome at algebra I'll get him to help you!" Anya said excitedly, and before even giving Zane a second to protest having anyone's help Anya waved over to Riley who made his way over to the couple.

"Hey Anya, Zane" Riley said nodding in their direction, he carried a question mark on his face when he saw Anya's excited expression.

"Hey Ri, so Zane kindove sucks at algebra and needs some help, so we're gonna come over tomorrow night and we can watch movies and stuff and afterwards you'll help him with homework right? Sounds great!" Anya said very quickly and excitedly not waiting for Riley's response before bouncing away to talk to Chantay. Zane and Riley stood there awkwardly for a second both avoiding eye contact.

"Sorry she invited us over, we don't have to come over if you don't want, and I'm pretty sure I can figure out that homework by myself..." Zane mumbled for a second staring at his shoes, embarrassed by his girlfriends intruding personality, even though it was something he had slowly grown accustomed to, he still felt as though she needed to tone it down a bit after a while.

"Don't worry about it Zane, I love having company over, and I'm not the best but if you need some clarification I'll see what I can do." Riley said this with a little laugh in his voice, very used to Anya constantly inviting herself places, answering questions for herself and walking all over anyone who got in the way, he was her best friend and it was something he'd gotten used to over the years. Zane smiled a bit as he noticed Riley's shyness slowly fading away. Zane slowly studied Riley for a second, noticing his build, Riley obviously played some sort of sports, Zane kept this in mind for further conversation starters that he would surly need. By this point Anya had skipped back over to the duo and threw Zane's arm around her shoulders.

"Ri, we'll be there at like 6 tomorrow, sound good? We can order food or something if you want, oh and bring that boy, what was his name Nate? The one from camp that you never shut up about, I want to meet him." Anya said this all in a bossy tone, yet as she said this, she still carried an air around her as though she cared very little about what was going on. Zane looked over at Riley when Anya said boy, looking carefully for his expression, which slowly dropped. Riley regained his shyness and mumbled something incoherent about tomorrow's plans which resulted in Anya pulling Zane away from the group and leading him down the stairs, calling out her quick good byes to Riley. The pair walked down the street until the cross street for Anya's house came up.

"You wanna come over? My parents won't be home yet?" Anya raised one eyebrow suggestively and looked at Zane, her expression clearly not giving the boy a choice.

"Sorry my parents wanted me home right after school" Zane lied and watched Anya's expression change quickly, as though not used to getting her way, she pouted slightly as she thought it might improve her chances, yet Zane mearly kissed her on the forehead and asked her to txt him later. Zane turned his back to the girl as she stomped away home, he slowed his pace in order to give himself more time to think about everything that was going to happen tomorrow night. Zane thought back to Riley's expression when Anya brought up that boy he once knew. He rubbed his head as to get rid of the thought, Zane wasn't sure why he was concentrating so hard on this. He thought again about tomorrow's nights plans and noticed a fluttering feeling in his stomach, a nervousness he only felt once every few months. Confused, Zane marched up his front steps and went straight to his room before laying back on his bed and meditating, enjoying the silent peace that was extremely rare with Anya as girlfriend. As though on cue his phone vibrated and Anya's name flashed across the screen, sighing Zane turned his phone off, not ready to surrender the peace, and let his mind wander to all the possibilities of the next night.

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**AN: I know a lot of you are hating me for the Zane/Anya pairing, but it's listed as a Riley/Zane pairing so I mean you know where this is gonna go (at least you think you know where it's gonna go! haha i kid i kid). But anyway this is the second chapter, don't worry things are just getting started here, and please review, reviews make me update faster! Thanks!**


	3. Chapter 3

Zane's eyelids were heavy when he opened his eyes, he blinked over to the clock which had 12:45 glowing from the screen, he sat up and looked down, he was still fully clothed and must have fallen asleep as soon as he got home from school, a bad habit he had fallen into this past week. He stood up, still a little loopy from his heavy nap and walked over to his forgotten phone and turned it on, it buzzed uncontrollably for a minuet straight catching up from all of the txt messages from Anya, Zane quickly scrolled through them while pulling gently at his hair and rolled his eyes at the usual txt messages he had grown accustomed to, though the messages were short they were all filled with Anya's typical chatter and didn't seem to pertain to anything important. Zane changed into a pair of shorts and a sleeveless shirt and sat back down on his bed, he pulled on his reading glasses and grabbed his algebra homework out of his bag for he had nothing better to do at this point. Zane worked his way through four or five more problems until he felt as though his brain were going to melt, he looked back over the problems again quickly hoping not to seem to idiotic concerning algebra when he discussed it with Riley tomorrow.

Zane's stomach turned again, a strange fluttering feeling in the pit of his stomach, he brushed it off as hunger and walked to his kitchen where he prepared a quick snack before returning back to his room and pacing gently, awaiting tomorrow. He thought back to his first week of Degrassi, the blur of his classes, and the faces and the names, he wondered how long it would take for him to get used to such a large high school and if it was a mistake transferring. He knew his parents thought it was a mistake, but at his old school, he didn't know who he was, he had no friends and really not much of a life until he met Anya one day at the dot, and since then his life has been on her pace. He grinned when he thought of Anya strolling over to his table at the dot and making shy conversation, the only time he had ever seen the smaller girl slightly timid, from then on out her personalty was large and in charge, Zane liked it that way, he didn't have to try as hard. He packed his algebra items in his bag again before looking quickly through his txt messages from Anya and mentally noting the important things, as to when to pick her up before going to Riley's tomorrow, the fact that she was probably cranky because he didn't pick up his phone, and most important of all a txt with Riley's number in it from Anya. Zane quickly saved the number in his phone with haste before tuning his phone off again, taking off his glasses and clicking off his light, he fell asleep again, this time on purpose making a mental note to txt Riley as soon as he woke up in order to make sure that the plans were still in check for that night.

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**AN: So sorry for the short chapter, and the fact it's taken me so long to update only to give you this. I hope you enjoy, i'm not sure where i'm taking the next chapter just yet, or if i'm even going to continue this. Please please please review that really helps me. I'm not overly confident in this chapter, i hope the next one is more well written. Thanks again!**


	4. Chapter 4

Zane reopened his eyes around eight in the morning and gave himself a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the light in his room. He pulled himself out of bed slowly, still feeling exhausted though he slept for several hours last night. Zane picked his phone up and unplugged it from it's charger before turning it on. He saw a few text messages from Anya again, which he quickly responded to, letting her know that he would pick her up tonight for Riley's. He then scrolled through his contacts before sending Riley a quick text, to make sure everything was still okay for tonight. He typed out the message quickly and let his finger linger on the send button for only a moment, realizing how ridiculous the situation was again.

"Hey Riley, this is Zane. Anya gave me your number, I hope you don't mind. I was just wondering if it was still okay if we came over tonight to study and stuff? Thanks!" Zane reread the message before sending, and then hastily pressed the send button before flipping his phone closed. Zane smiled when his phone buzzed in response from Riley.

"Sure, I'm still good if you are :)". Zane shut his phone and once again, and started his day. Between taking a shower, cleaning, and working on homework five thirty rolled around before Zane realized. He grabbed his phone, wallet, school bag and keys off of his dresser, waved goodbye to his parents, provided as few details as possible about his evening before speeding out of his driveway. Zane took a deep breath as he pulled into Anya's street, and exhaled before turning his car off and walking to the front door.

Anya opened up the door before Zane even had a chance to knock, she squealed loudly and all but pounced on top of him once she opened the door. Zane laughed a little to himself, that was the one thing about Anya that he loved, she was just as excited to see you every time, wether you had gone two hours or two weeks without seeing each other. He lifted the smaller girl partially off the ground and kissed her softly on the mouth, lingering for a second before placing her back down on the ground again.

"Hey" he breathed softly

"Hey gorgeous" she responded with. Zane smiled again

"Sorry I didn't really txt back last night, I completely crashed once I got home from school" Anya smiled and waved her hand to disregard the statement, showing that all was forgiven. Zane lead Anya to the car and lead her around to the passenger side where he opened the door for her before walking around to his own side. Anya giggled in thanks and proceeded to give Zane a very detailed account of her life the past 24 hours, such as her fight with her father over something, her picking up her mom from chemo this morning, her phone call with Holly J etc. Occasionally her story would break to give Zane directions to Riley's house, and less than 15 minuets (even after missing a turn or two dude to Anya's distractions) they were pulling into a covered parking lot for an apartment complex. Anya lead Zane to the correct side of the building before he pulled into a space, parked and walked towards the complex hand in hand with Anya.

Anya lead them to the right door and knocked a few times before letting out a sigh of impatience. Riley was quick to answer the door a few seconds after Anya's sigh, as though on cue, Anya ran into Riley's arms about as quickly as she did to Zane less than half an hour earlier and let out a similar squeal of excitement. Both boys shook their heads and laughed at the girls excitement, realizing how much she was like a small child sometimes. Anya lead Zane inside the small apartment, and he soon realized that Riley lived alone, he was sure Anya would tell him this story later, she always provided a story. Zane looked around the apartment as Anya flopped herself on the couch as though she had lived there her entire life. She quickly patted the seat next to her for Zane to join, Riley laughed at Anya again and sat down in the chair across from the couch.

"So Ri, where's that camp boy? Nate?" Anya asked, with a curious expression, not picking up on the fact that Riley's shoulders slumped down dramatically when she asked the question.

"Oh, I don't know where he is, I haven't talked to him in months..." Riley said, as he let the last part of his sentence trail off.

"What do you mean in months? You talk about him all the time?" Anya asked curiously, as though she had been missing out on something.

"Yeah Anya, we've been over for a while now." As Riley said this, Anya's cheeks held a quick blush, she was not used to not knowing every single detail of gossip she could. Zane laughed to himself a bit at his girlfriends embarrassment, before reprimanding himself for getting joy out of it.

"So Zane, you need help with algebra right?" Riley asked quick to change the subject, immediately causing Anya's boredom, who had plucked her phone out of her purse and started texting.

"Yeah, I mean, I keep trying but something isn't clicking in my head when it comes to solving equations and all of that." said Zane shaking his head. "I mean I worked on it a lot last night so I think I may be able to understand it, you really don't have to help me if you don't want to." Zane blurted out slightly embarrassed, he wasn't used to asking people for help, he had always dealt with things, no matter how insignificant, on his own.

"So you guys, I just found out there was a party down the street tonight, how about you two stay here and work on homework and I go down there and come back in a little while?" Anya asked blurting into the conversation. Zane suddenly tensed up, realizing how awkward it would be for her to leave considering the fact Zane and Riley had only met earlier this week.

"Okay well I'll see you later" Anya said, picking up her bag and leaving the apartment without waiting for either boy to answer, letting the door slam nosily behind her.

"She does that sometimes, doesn't wait for the answer incase she doesn't like what you might say" Zane found himself saying, he immediately regretted badmouthing his girlfriend as soon as the words escaped his lips.

"Haha, it's part of Anya's charm though, so high-strung and energized, she wouldn't be the same if she wasn't that way" Riley said sensing Zane's embarrassment and blowing it off. "So lets pull out that algebra homework and see if I can help you at all with it?" Zane still blushing from his Anya comment pulled out his homework and sat it on the living room table, moving onto the floor so the table would be more at his height.

"Thank you again, for taking out part of your weekend to help me with this, you really don't have to." Zane said shyly.

"Don't worry about it, man. I don't go out much on weekends anyway, even though I have like the perfect place to throw parties or for people to come hang out, I mostly just stay by myself, I enjoy the peace." Riley said, Zane nodded in agreement, for he often longed for a sense of peace, with the constant events and parties Anya dragged him to, though he would never admit that to someone who was nearly a stranger.

The two boys worked for nearly two hours, constantly repeating equations, calculations and formulas until Riley felt as though Zane had thoroughly grasped an understanding of the concept.

"Okay dude I'm done" Zane said laughing as he tossed his pencil on his paper. "There is no way I can even pretend to do one more problem on this worksheet" he said with a sigh. "You're a really good teacher by the way" he nodded his thanks over to Riley.

"Thanks" was all Riley said with a quick blush in his cheeks, though just for a faint second it was enough to catch Zane's attention, and brought a smile to his lips, something which made Riley blush even further. Their brains worn out from the excess weekend homework, the boys stayed on the floor, sitting at the coffee table, talking about all things Degrassi. The teachers, the students, the rules, the classes, everything that had gone by in such a rush to Zane this past week, Riley knew as though it was the back of his hand. Riley explained the new school rules to Zane, and the idiotic reasoning behind them, Zane laughed when Riley made an impression of their algebra teacher and continued laughing when Riley told stories such as once during an assembly, when two students were caught in the heat of passion behind the curtains. Zane looked at Riley with a slow questionable look, realizing that Riley typically did not talk this much, to anyone, and Zane wondered to himself if this was because Riley thought nobody wanted to hear him.

The buzzing of Zane's phone interrupted their conversation once more, and to no surprise it was from Anya, alerting Zane that she had been given a ride home from Holly J and to text her tonight to make sure he got home okay. Zane sat his phone down without a reply and continued his conversation with Riley. After a while, when the boys were tired of talking, Riley stood up and put in a DVD, and the boys sat in silence throughout the entire movie. Zane's eyes were getting heavier and heavier throughout the movie and at some point had drifted into a dream, where Anya was a giant megaphone in a cheerleading outfit and his phone went off non stop. The last thing Zane felt before fully falling asleep was a blanket falling on top of him.

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**AN: Okay I know, but first off this story is slightly AU so please don't get angry over everything being different. Also, I know I made Anya's character a whiny bitch, I did it on purpose, though I recognize that this is not how she is on the show and she is slightly OOC, but this is my story. I want to apologize for my lack of updates, I know it's been a really long time but now that I have all of my college applications out of the way I should be able to concentrate more time on my stories, and hopefully be able to upload a new chapter once a week. Thank you for sticking with me and reading my story so far. And as always, I LOVE REVIEWS! Thanks! **


	5. Chapter 5

The light was what awakened Zane in the morning, he exhaled heavily out of exasperation, not wanting to wake up and stay in the comfortable land of sleep for forever. He pried his eyes open slowly before quickly shifting into a sitting position once he realized that he did not noticed his surroundings. The blanket which laid on top of him flapped to the ground as he sat up, his breathing evened once he remembered that he had fallen asleep on Riley's couch the night before. In the distance of the next room Zane could hear the shower on and Riley humming a tune, which could barely be heard over the roar of the shower. Zane swung his legs over the couch and turned on his cell phone, already preparing himself for the influx of text messages from Anya, but was surprised to see that only two txts awaited him, though both from Anya, they were just saying goodnight. Astonished Zane stored his phone and stood up, folding the blanket and laying it over the couch, he quickly packed up his school back and ran his hands across his slept in clothes, attempting to make them less wrinkled.

"Hey I'll be out there in just a second" Zane turned his head to see Riley peering out of the doorway of his bedroom only wearing a towel, fitted lowly on his hips.

"Alright" Was all that Zane could manage to say, finding himself suddenly flustered. He felt a slight rise in temperature to his cheeks, Riley laughed a little to himself before closing the door and continuing to get dressed.

Zane sat on the couch for the next five minuets, he texted Anya and told her he stayed over at Riley's and would soon be home, and spent the rest of the time looking at the decor in Riley's apartment. The night before Zane really hadn't had much of a look around for they had gotten straight to working on homework. Zane walked over to the mantel where he saw a few pictures of a family of four, the photos taken when Riley was at least three years younger. Looking into the pictures Zane saw a smiling mother who stood directly behind Riley, her hand placed lightly on his shoulder, a stern faced father who had one hand around his wife's hips, and a girl who appeared to be slightly older than Riley, standing next to him. Zane soon saw that this was one of four pictures in Riley's house, one being of Riley and Anya which must have been taken the year before, one of Riley and what Zane assumed to be his older sister and one of Riley and a lanky boy who was about the same age as them, Riley had a large smile on his face in the picture, looking more sincerely happy than Zane had seen in the past week. He wandered over to the kitchen looking at Riley's different cook books when Zane sensed a presence behind him.

"Sorry I didn't give you the full tour last night, but as you can guess there really isn't much to show" Riley said with a soft laugh in his voice, looking down at Zane who was kneeling looking at cook books.

"No, I like your place, a lot. It must be nice to have the privacy" Zane said straightening out his stance again, plucking one of the cook books off of the shelves, and laughing at the cover which appeared to be a cupcake decorated like a duck.

"Oh ignore those, I love to cook but I make up my own recipes most of the time, I just use those for inspiration occasionally. But I have no idea what was up with that cupcake book, my aunt must have thought it was a joke or something." Riley laughed "But other than that, it's kindove nice living by myself, it does get lonely every now and then though, but like I said, I don't mind the quiet too much"

"I feel you, sometimes I just need my peace" Zane said flipping through the cook book lazily, while both boys stood at the counter chatting.

"Well I gotta get going soon" Zane said with a sigh "I still have more homework to finish up, and I think Anya may have mentioned that we have plans today, I don't really remember." Riley smiled at the last comment.

"She sure does have you on a short leash" Riley said softly, before realizing his statement and again blushing with embarrassment. "Oh no man, I didn't mean it in a bad way, I promise"

"Don't worry about it, it's not anything I didn't know. It just seems easier this way, letting her take control most of the time" Zane said with a wave of his hand. He saw Riley's confusion in his statement, and waited for him to ask him to elaborate, Riley never did.

"Anyway, thank you for letting me crash on your couch, and for helping me out with my algebra, I feel so much more confident in it now." Zane said as he hoisted up his bag onto his arm.

"Don't worry about it, any time. Feel free to call me of txt me if you need more help and I'll see what I can do." Riley called as Zane had started heading out the door. Keys in hand Zane walked down to his car and placed his bag in the passengers seat before pulling out of the driveway and hoping to himself that he would remember how to get home. Images of the night before flashed in his mind, lingering for only a second on the image of Riley in a towel standing in the entrance of his bedroom. Zane shook his head trying to rid himself of the thought and saw to his surprise that he was pulling into his own driveway, the drive home had gone much quicker than he anticipated.

He pulled his possessions out of the car and walked up the short walk way to his house, letting himself in. He turned over to the couch, seeing that as usual his father was watching some sort of news show with a fast moving reel at the bottom, he then heard his mom vacuuming in their bedroom. Zane shut the door quietly making sure that his dad didn't hear it before walking quietly to his bedroom, where he again shut the door quietly. Zane laid on his back in his bed for a second, tempted to fall back asleep, but he was distracted by the faint txt message alert he heard coming from his pocket. Digging out his phone he saw the name Riley flash across the screen.

"Hey I just wanted to let you know you left your wallet at my place, I can give it to you tomorrow if you want?" Zane felt his pockets and realized that he did not in fact have his wallet.

"Thanks man, I'll get it from you tomorrow at school!" Zane quickly replied back, he thought in his head for a second how quickly he was to respond to Riley's text yet dreaded Anya's again he shook his head dispelling his thoughts.

"Okay, if you want I was planning on getting some coffee later if you wanted to meet me at The Dot, I can give it to you then?" Zane smiled upon seeing Riley's reply and he quickly txted his response.

"Sure if I finish enough of my homework, what time will you be there?" Zane kept his phone in his hand awaiting his response and was quick to see the reply before his phone could even make the message alert noise.

"I'll be there around three, let me know if you can make it! :)" Zane closed his phone and smiled a little for some odd reason. He stood up and had started to take off his shirt when he heard a light knock at his door. Sliding his shirt back down over his stomach he walked over to his door and opened it, seeing his mother standing in front of him.

"Zane now I know that we don't give you very many rules, but please if you're going to spend the night at your girlfriends just send me a text or something. let me know whats going on" Zane's mother said with a little bit of overdramatic exasperation in her voice.

"Sorry mom, I was over at a friend's studying and a sort of just fell asleep, I'll make sure to tell you next time" Zane replied trying to hold back his eyes from rolling.

"Studying... Yeah right, I know exactly what you teenaged boys study these days, the female anatomy does not count as studying..." Said his mother as she turned her heel and walked away from Zane. He closed his door and walked over to his dresser pulling out a few shirts, trying to decide which to wear for the day, he decided on a light green one and pulled that out and a pair of black pants before walking into his bathroom. As he finished his shower he couldn't help to notice a little that he was putting more effort into his hair than normal, and making sure that his shirt fit him just right. Zane smiled at himself in the mirror, before once again heading into his bedroom and pulling out his books and studying for a good portion of the afternoon, careful not to day dream about his plans that he had.

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**AN: I'm so sorry again, things have been crazy! But I pinky promise that I will update much quicker this time. As always please please please review! The reviews really do give me inspiration. I feel the need to mention that again the characters are intentionally OOC so please if you feel the need to comment on that, note that I did that knowingly, as well as this being an AU I realize that the characters are not as how they appear on the show. Thank you again! **


	6. Chapter 6

It felt as though the afternoon moved at super speed, for it felt as though Zane had barely sat down before he looked at his clock, warning him it was 2:50. He stood up and grabbed his keys and his phone, sending out a quick txt to Riley before he left.

"Hey I'm on my way to The Dot, see you soon?"

"Sure thing, see you there!" Zane smiled widely as he got the reply, he needed not to make an excuse for leaving his house, due to his parents leaving the house before he left and walked the short distance to The Dot, which was only two streets away from his house, as he crossed the street he saw Riley sitting alone at one of the table outdoors with two coffee cups in front of him. Zane smiled to himself as he approached and greeted Riley with a friendly wave, which Riley promptly returned. He strode over and pulled the chair out opposite to Riley, who pushed one of the coffee cups towards Zane and gestured that it was his.

"So did you not have plans with Anya today after all?" Riley asked casually as Zane brought his cup to his lips.

"I guess not, we haven't really talked since last night" Zane said brushing off the subject quickly. Zane took a quick sip of his coffee while gently eyeing Riley over his cup, he took note at the shaggy curls which hung down off of his head, a few playful ones daring to fall into his eyes, which Riley pushed back quickly.

"Oh I guess you want your wallet back" Riley said as he reached into his pocket, pulled out Zane's wallet and slid it across the table. Zane reached for the wallet, his fingers quickly brushing against Riley's. As though on cue Riley pulled his hand back quickly after the moment of physical contact.

"Thanks for bringing it to me" Zane said, noting the blush on Riley's cheeks. For a moment the boys sat in a mild awkward silence, for they didn't know each other very well, and neither seemed very keen on starting the conversation. Zane has briefly considered making up some excuse and leaving when Riley finally spoke.

"So you and Anya seem really happy together, is she the reason you transferred to Degrassi?" Zane sighed a little out of relief that Riley was the person to talk first, he pondered for a moment before answering.

"More or less, we've been together for a while, and I've gone to the same school since kindergarten pretty much, so I was ready for something new and different. Anya and I were joking one day and she said I should transfer to Degrassi, the next day I enrolled. It's not too bad, I'm not really good at making friends and even though I'd been at my old school for a while I never really had a lot of connections there, so I figured no harm would be done in transferring." Zane had stared at his hands the entire time he had said this, though when he finished he looked up to see Riley staring at him intently, evidently holding on to every word that Zane said. "He's a really good listener" Zane thought to himself before Riley began to speak.

"How are you liking Degrassi? Made any new friends yet?" Zane could tell that Riley asked this with genuine interest and was actually making an effort to get to know Zane better, even though they had talked the night before, it had only been about shared interests, now they were beginning to know one another.

"Not really, I mean I know Anya really wants me to make friends with her friends, but I really haven't gotten a moment to talk to anyone yet, in fact your the first person I've really talked to away from her in the whole week that I've been there." Zane shrugged, knowing that it was normal for Anya to act this way, Riley nodded in agreement. This next time Zane spoke first.

"So how long have you and Anya been friends? I mean I've heard her mention you a couple of times before I came, but all of her stories tend to blend together after a while" Zane said this with a slight apologetic tone, as though feeling bad for not remembering everything Anya had told him about Riley.

"Well, Anya and I have been friends for about a year or two now, her ex boyfriend was on the football team with me and we just kindove bonded after they broke up, did she ever tell you that we dated for a little while?" Zane laughed a little at Riley's obvious embarrassment of admitting that he had once dated his girlfriend.

"Really? I had no idea!" Zane laughed a little as did Riley.

"Yeah it was really brief though, and by brief I mean two weeks at most. We broke up because she wasn't over her last boyfriend she said, but I think it was because she knew I was gay the entire time." Zane and Riley laughed together again, then Riley looked down and focused on his hands, fidgeting a bit, as though testing the waters with Zane.

"She never told me that, then again we don't really talk about our past relationships much" Zane said "Or anything involving me or anyone else for that matter" Zane thought to himself, Riley nodded as though reading Zane's mind.

"Yeah Anya, she's quite a character, she kindove picks and chooses what she wants you to know about herself, she can't help it though, it's who she is and it wouldn't be the same if she were any different." Zane nodded to Riley's comment, he noted how well Riley knew Anya, and he had a fleeting thought for a second, that for some time Riley must have been Anya's project or lap dog, that is before she found Zane. As though on cue, Zane turned his head and saw his girlfriend walking down the street and calling his name.

"Hey guys, having a little bromance date?" Anya said once she reached their table, before sliding over into Zane's lap, his hands automatically slipping around her waist. She greeted Zane with a short kiss on the cheek and then reached over and fluffed Riley's curly hair, he grinned towards her.

"I left my wallet over at Riley's house last night and he was just meeting up with me to return it" Zane said as Anya shifted in his lap leaning back towards him, she smiled in response.

"Ri, you gonna take good care of my boy, you know make sure he makes the right kind of friends and such? I can't keep my eye on him all the time, I'm too busy" Anya said with a joking smile on her face. Riley looked across the table and made eye contact with Zane for a moment.

"Of course Anya, let anyone being a bad influence on him, you do that enough" Riley smiled at the joke still maintaing eye contact with Zane. Zane suddenly feeling a bit uncomfortable shifted in his chair a little and looked over his shoulder at the busy street across from The Dot, when he turned his head again he noticed Riley was fidgeting with his hands again.

"Good, I have to make sure that my boyfriend associates with the right people. Do you mind if I steal him now Ri? I haven't had him to myself in forever!" She said this with an evident exasperated exaggeration in her voice. Riley waved his hand as if to show that it was fine if her and Zane left, she hopped off of his lap and grabbed his hand pulling up into a standing position.

"Bye Riley, thanks for the coffee" Zane called over his shoulder towards Riley as Anya started to lead him down the street. Zane looked forward just in time to miss Riley waving back at him and then brushing his hair back and exhaling in an exasperated fashion. Anya led him all the way back towards Zane's house, somehow managing to hold his hand but still lead the way. Before they walked through the front door she pushed him against the door and kissed him, gently pinning him down.

"I missed you" Anya looked up towards Zane, who was a good few inches taller than her, and he saw true emotion in her eyes. Zane smiled and leaned down and kissed her deeply. He pulled away and held a finger to his lips, sensing Anya to quiet herself. He opened the door and peered inside and the house appeared to be empty, he then pulled Anya forward and led the way towards his bedroom, closing his door as soon as they crossed the threshold. Before anything else could happen Anya playfully thrust Zane onto the bed and proceeded to straddle him, where they continued to kiss each other, Zane placed his hands on Anya's side and gave her a gentle squeeze, resulting in a squeal emitting from Anya's mouth, he tickled her again and she continued to giggle before pushing Zane down on the bed and pinning his arms above his head. Things continued to get heated for a while before there was a gentle knock on his door.

"Zane I assume your girlfriend is staying for dinner?" Zane heard his mom call out from behind his door, he realized he must not have heard his parents come back home. He looked into Anya's eyes and saw her shake her head.

"I'll leave" she mouthed. She knew that Zane's mother hadn't exactly taken a liking to her since they had gotten together and decided not to press her luck.

"No mom I think she's gonna go home now" Zane looked up at Anya who had slid off of his lap and straightened her top and pulled her skirt down to an appropriate length.

"You know you can stay if you want" Zane said to Anya who shook her head quickly.

"It's probably better I leave, you know how your mom and I act around one another" She leaned over and whispered into his ear, before pulling him into a kiss and excusing herself from the bedroom. Zane laid back in his bed, and heard his mother making quick conversation with Anya, who tried as quickly as possible to leave the Park household. His breathing evened once he heard the front door shut, he then proceeded to close his eyes and listen to his parents distance chatter in the living room, and his mother preparing dinner. He let his mind wander back to Anya and he thought about how easy their relationship was, all he had to do was listen to her talk, it was pretty much his only requirement as her boyfriend, but then he thought about being flaunted around school, like he was her new toy for all to admire and how she tried to show him off. He didn't mind all the time, but eventually it was going to get old being Anya's accessory, he shook the idea out of his head.

"I don't know why I keep trying to make our relationship worse than it is in my mind" he thought to himself before standing up. He let out a sigh and felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, rolling his eyes he pulled it out, and much to his surprise it was a text message from Riley.

"Hey thanks for getting coffee with me today, and if you ever need someone besides Anya to show you around Degrassi, or even a friend I'll be happy to help :)" Zane smiled at the text and was eager to reply.

"Hey no problem thanks for inviting me, and I'm probably going to take you up on that offer soon :)" Zane pressed the send button and put his phone away and left the confines of his room to have dinner with his parents.

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**AN: Okay so I had the BIGGEST writers block when it came to this chapter, when I'm writing this I can see how I want this story to go in the far future, but I needed to work out some details first. Thanks for sticking with me though, I have the next chapter written but I'm going to wait until I get three reviews before I upload it. Could you guys do that for me? It would be the best gift ever! Thank you for continuing to read! **


	7. Chapter 7

In a distant land Zane's alarm clock went off, he struggled into semi consciousness before reaching across his bed and turning the obnoxiously loud alarm off. He rolled over and started at his clock for a moment, as though trying to gain the strength to force himself out of bed. He shifted into a sitting position and shuffled into the bathroom taking care of his morning routine before school. Zane had always hated Monday's more than anything, they always brought an end to the weekend and were a day that signified a collection of homework, in almost no time Zane was walking up the stairs to the entrance of Degrassi. He looked over to his left and saw Riley leaning against the side of the stairs by himself, he looked around and saw no sight of Anya, then walked over and joined Riley by the stairs, for they still had a few minuets before school started.

"One week down, thirty five to go" Zane said with a sigh as he stood next to Riley.

"I feel ya man" Riley said not making eye contact with Zane, staring into the distance. Zane found this curious and contemplated starting up a different conversation when the bell rang. The boys parted ways at the stairs and Zane watched the curly haired boy walk in the opposite direction of him. He headed to his locker pulling a couple of books out of his bag and exchanging them with different books from his locker. He trudged himself to class and found it quite frustrating to himself that he still saw very few people that he could recognize. He felt himself frustrated by the size of Degrassi, and overall in a grumpy mood. He went through his first few classes quite slowly, going through the motions, taking notes, listening to the teacher drone on and on, listening to the girls giggle and the boys trying to "out man" each other, and by the time lunch rolled around he felt thoroughly exhausted. He walked over to the table him and Anya had sat at last week and threw his bag on the ground and pulled his sandwich out of his bag, ripping the sandwich into bite sized pieces before putting it into his mouth instead of us biting into it.

"Are you punishing the sandwich before you eat it? Why rip it apart?" Riley said laughing slightly as he walked over to the table Zane was sitting at.

"Force of habit, when I had my braces and retainers I would get scared of getting food stuck in them so I always rip apart my food now" Zane said with a shrug, which resulted in Riley smiling.

"Well that's kindove gross but I see why you would do it." Riley said, letting the conversation fall for a moment. He didn't seem really keen on starting up conversation again with Zane, but right when Zane was about to pick up his sandwich again Riley spoke.

"So where has Anya been today? I haven't seen her all day?" Zane picked up his phone and noted the lack of txt messages that he had before shaking his head.

"Good question, I have no idea where she is actually" He contemplated for a moment sending her a text asking her where she was, but he knew that after a while she would alert him of her whereabouts. Zane looked up at Riley who had sat down across from him and studied him again for what he felt had been the hundredth time in the past two days. Something about Riley intrigued Zane and he wasn't quite sure what it was about him, whenever he was around him he just felt curious about Riley in general, but was too shy to ask anything, so he just sat there in the mutual silence with Riley both boys appearing to be to shy or too content with the silence to carry on conversation.

Zane finished his sandwich and packed up his stuff. "I'll see you in algebra, man" He reached over and slapped Riley on the back, shaking his shoulder slightly. He smiled as he walked away and turned around and saw Riley's face quickly turn pink before he walked away. He walked to his locker to again exchange books when he felt a pair of hands slide over his eyes.

"Guess who?" He heard Anya say, he turned around and slid his hands on her waist as she hung her arms around his neck.

"Where were you today?" Anya looked away from him as he asked and pressed her face into his chest.

"My mom got really sick last night and we spent most of the night and part of the morning in the hospital" She slid her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly.

"Babe, I'm so sorry" He pushed back her hair and attempted to comfort her. "How is she doing now?" He kissed the top of her head and let her rest against him.

"She's better now, the doctors put her on some medication and she was asleep when I left, I only really came to school to see you, I haven't gotten much sleep." She sighed and looked up at him, Zane noted the dark circles under her eyes, her hair was pulled back into a sloppy pony-tail and she was in sweat pants.

"Anya, go home honey, I'll come keep you company after school" He brushed her hair back and leaned down and kissed her on the forehead, she shook her head.

"No I need to go back to the hospital after school, but I needed to get my homework anyway" She pressed her body against his and leaned up and kissed him fully on the mouth, which took him a little by surprise. He pulled away from her and smiled but she immediately leaned in to kiss him again, standing on her tiptoes and pressing her body as firmly as she could against his, pinning him backwards into the lockers. He tried to pull away again but she had him in a body lock, he always noticed how her mothers condition had a direct connection with her neediness towards him, he never really minded but he was starting to realize that it was more of a coping mechanism for her over anything. She started to slide her hands up the back of his shirt when he heard a grunt behind them. As though Anya realized that they actually were in the middle of a school hallway she pulled away as quickly as possible.

"Uhm, sorry to interrupt, you guys continue" Riley shuffled past blushing slightly, as he passed them the bell rang signaling the release of several hundreds students from classes and the lunchroom. Anya unglued herself from Zane giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, she skipped down the hallway and linked her arm with Riley and walked his direction with him. Zane felt the heat stay on his face from what Riley just saw, he turned into his locker and continued what he was doing before Anya showed up and exchanged his books before rushing to his next class. His next class went by rather quickly and soon the bell was ringing, signaling for him to go to his last period of the day, algebra.

He walked to the room and slid into his seat, ruffling through his papers and pulling out all of the weekends homework as well has his book and a couple of pencils. When he looked up he saw Riley sitting next to him which took Zane aback for a second, due to the fact Riley sat across the room the previous week. Zane smiled in greeting towards Riley and exhaled deeply, preparing himself for class.

"Hey man, sorry about in the hallway ear..." Zane raised his hand to Riley to signal him to stop, Zane noticed Riley was blushing again, and for some reason, he almost found it adorable. He shook his head forgetting the thought.

"Don't worry about it, sometimes Anya... Well I don't even know, it's always after something happens to her mom or she's really stressed... It's like a release of hormones or something" Zane looked over to Riley who was looking down laughing softly.

"Wow, I shouldn't have said that. Tmi. Sorry." Zane truly felt bad by his statement and was a little embarrassed by his statement.

"Nahh, don't worry about it man, it's what friends are for" Riley then turned his attention to the front of the class and the teacher started talking. Zane let his stare linger on Riley for a second and tipped his head down looking at his paper, he smiled to himself over the word friend, liking how that sounded in his head. He liked thinking of Riley as his friend. He peered to his left and caught Riley pulling one of his curls behind his ear and with his other hand taking notes as quickly as possible as the teacher talked. Zane snapped back into reality and focused on what the teacher was saying. He looked over his shoulder again to peer on Riley's notes to catch up on what he missed. Riley looked over at Zane, smiled and slid his paper over giving Zane a better view. He shifted his leg a little brushing against Zane's knee. Zane stared at the legs, touching one another, though it was brief Riley looked at Zane staring at their physical connection and quickly pulled away, a little flustered.

They took notes for a good portion of the class before going over the homework. To his surprise Zane got every problem Riley helped him with correct.

"You're a good tutor" Zane said gesturing to the grade on his paper.

"Ehh, math just isn't all that hard to me." Riley shrugged, acting modest. Zane smiled and responded.

"I'm really going to have to ask you for help again, you're some sort of genius" as Zane complimented him Riley shook his head.

"Don't worry about it, any time you need help" Zane turned back to his work and looked form his notes to his worksheet and found it much easier to understand knowing that Riley would help him out if he needed it. His phone vibrated almost the second the bell rang. He plucked it out of his pocket and saw it was from Anya.

"Hey babe I went back to the hospital to be with my mom, I might drop by later tonight?" Zane looked up from his phone and looked across the room, then bent down to pick up his bag and headed to his locker. Once there he responded.

"Maybe not tonight, my mom has been sort of on a tirade recently, but soon babe :)" Zane knew that Anya would not be happy when she saw this but he wasn't up for an all-nighter tonight. Zane swung his bag over his shoulder and walked out of the building. As he passed the football field he noticed Riley stretching getting ready for football practice. Zane watched for a moment before he caught up with himself and started walking towards his house. There was one thing for certain, something about Riley captivated him, he just wasn't sure what it was.

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**AN: Don't worry guys, hold onto your panties, i'm building up to it. It's gonna happen. Thanks for the reviews! The more reviews the faster I update! Thanks guys! **


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